After they serve their prison terms, some of the state's most violent sex offenders eventually return to the community under the state's supervision.

But as WISN 12 News investigative reporter Colleen Henry discovered, as wards of the state, offenders' expenses are being paid by taxpayers at rates reflecting the high life.

Jack Lechler, Dick Kunz and Don Mogenson are retirement buddies -- men on a mission to save the state from itself.

"We're old guys that are just looking at reality and common sense," Lechler said.

Two years ago, the state placed a sexual predator around the corner from Kunz's Manitowoc home. The men started asking questions and checking property records. The rent alone left them stunned.

"Fifteen hundred dollars a month for 480 square feet, which is basically the size of a two-car garage," Kunz said. "This would be about five times the market value."

The Manitowoc sex predator is one of 32 whose success in treatment earned them supervised release in homes across the state.

In March, the state placed two sexual predators in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood. The rent the state pays for the 1,100-square-foot bungalow is $2,400 a month. That's the going rate for many of Milwaukee's toniest addresses, luxury high-rises that boast majestic lake views and amenities such as swimming pools and fitness centers.

"Twenty-four hundred a month rent," Henry said.

"And we're paying that? Oh God," Roxanne Jurkowski said.

Jurkowski has lived in Bay View for the last 20 years.

"Why can't they give it to people, young children who need it," Jurkowski asked.

Across the street, Vito Schwartz asked the same question.

"Twenty-four hundred dollars a month. That's ridiculous. How do they get away with that?" Schwartz asked.

WISN 12 News reviewed property records and learned the landlord bought the Bay View home in February for $98,000. It's one of at least eight properties linked to that same operation. It often buys foreclosed homes and leases them to the state at a premium.

Like the Manitowoc home, the owner bought it for $35,000 and charges the state $1,600 a month.

In Green Bay, the home cost $33,000 and rents for $1,800 a month. A Beloit home cost $32,000 and rents for $1,800 a month.

The homes were purchased by several limited-liability corporations. WISN12 News tracked them all back to a Fond du Lac office building.

The landlord did not return calls, so WISN 12 News took those questions to the state.

"Who signs the dotted line when they decide to pay $2,400 for a place that's probably worth about $700 rent?" Henry asked.

"I don't have that information offhand. Someone can get that for you," said Kevin Moore of the state Department of Health Services.

Moore said finding housing for supervised release sex offenders is very difficult.

"You've got a couple of guys who have figured out how to do it really, really well, with great benefit to them financially, clearly. Why can't you guys do that?" Henry asked.

"If there were a number of people competing for this line of business, obviously, things would probably look a little bit different, but it's not that case," Moore said.

Moore said it's critical for the state to find suitable, safe housing quickly, or a judge could order the predator released without any supervision.

But that doesn't satisfy Lechler and his buddies.

"If they ignore you and wear you out, you'll go away, and that seems to be the wish of most of our public servants," Lechler said.

They've been hounding lawmakers to do something about the runaway costs of housing the state's most dangerous sex offenders.

"We don't necessarily want to be the Three Musketeers or the Three Amigos, but we certainly don't want to be the Three Stooges," Lechler said.

The state spends more than $500,000 a year to house 32 on supervised release. The men note that's just a fraction of the $2 million total cost to keep them in the community -- a price tag that includes monitoring and sex offender treatment.

The state Legislature authorized an audit of the supervised-release program to determine if costs are out-of-line and search for potential savings that won't compromise public safety.

The state has not bought properties itself, arguing the supervised-release population is so fluid, it could be left holding properties with no one to live in them, but that option will get a new look in the audit.

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